Dumping-car door.



C. H. WILLIAMSON.

DUMPINGA CAR DOOR.

APPLiCATION FILED JAN 14, 1918.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

6km no q .C. H. WkLLlAMSON. JDUMPING CAR DOOR.

APPLECATION FILED JAN. 14. I918.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

sic.

CLARENCE H. WILLIAM-SON, F ALTOONA, ?EN1\TSYLVANIA.

DUMPING-CAR DOOR.

q w assists.

Application filed January 14, 191s. Serial a. 211,851.

1% all 712 mm. it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE H. \VILLIAM- son, a citizen of the United States, residing at Altoona, in the county of Blair andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dumping-Car Doors, of which the following is a specifi 'a- This invention relates to car doors, and 10 inore particularly to an improvement in doors of that type which are used on dumping-bottom cars.

To this end the invention has generally in view a novel ii'nprovemcnt in doors of the type set forth which are preferably made of pressed steel, whereby the same may be readily handled by the operating mechanism, while .at the same time imparting great strength and rigidity thereto without unduly 2e increasing their weight. and size.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide novel means for supporting the doors and connecting the same with the operating mechanism. That is to say, the present invention aims to 0VG1'(()II16 the objections incident to certain features of doors now in use by providing a special connecting unit between the supporting beams and the operating levers, whereby the liability of breakage of these parts is reduced to a minimum. It is obvious that, owing to the great weight sustained by the parts which connect the swinging ends of the doors with the operating mechanism, it 35 is desirable to distribute the load at this point in a thoroughly practical and efiicient manner, while at the same time construct, these parts in such a way that their repair may be easily effected in the case of necessity without involving the replacing of extra parts.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the invention is better luulerstood, the same consists in the novel 'constructimi, combination and arrangementof parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which l igure l is a vertical longitudinal sec- Specification of Letters Patent.

taken at right angles to Fig. 1, 1?; cl, along the meeting edges of the doors. i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail elevation, partly in section showing more clearly how the links of the operating mechanism are. connected with the cleviscs carried by the spreader beams which support the cardoors. Fig. l. is an elevation taken at right angles to Fig. 3 and only showing one ot'v the clcviscs and T-bolts conl'icctcd with the socket. of the opt cing link.

Fig. 5 is a detail elevation oi the T-b'olt. Fig. (3 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 7 is an cnlargcd detail view showing one-liali of the T-bolt in elevation and one of the straps ot' the clcvis in seci ion to more clearly illustrate the manner in which the head of the bolt engages with the clevis.

Similar references designate correspond-- ing parts throughout the several figures of the drawings. i

As it will be observed from the drawings, the present invention essentially embodies in its -organization a pair of dumping car doors suitably spaced apart, and provided with a door spreader or support of inverted U-section or channel tormation with outstanding flanges whose. central portion 01 web is secured to the body portions of said doors in such a manner that. a clevis may bercadily secured thereto, between the pairs of doors, to receive a pivoted bolt having a projecting threaded shank adapted to engage in an internally threaded socket. portion of a link member of the operating-mechanism which opens and closes the doors Referring now to the foregoing features more in detail, it. will be observed from the drawing that the reference character 1 designates the car body in its entirety, the some having a dumping hopper 2 whiclnas usual, may be duplicated on both sides of the longitudinal center line of the car, whereby the operating meehanisn'i may be conveniently housed in the space therebchveen, and also serve the purpose of operating the corresponding doors and 3-;-l of the opposite hoppers. As shown. these doors are hinged to the lower portion of the hopper as at 4 while their opposite swinging ends have secured thereto awrapsverar,spreader or supporting beam that is preferably of inverted U' section or channel: and. for the purpose of imparting adglitioual rigidity strength thereto; it is t'orn' ed with theroppositely projecting lateral flanges (S. This spreader or supporting beam 5 has its opposite end portions connected with correspond ing doors 3 for instance, of adjoining hoppers, and its intermediate portion has secured thereto a suitable clevis member 7 which forms a part of a connecting unit designated generally as C, and constitutes the sole connection between the operating mechanism M and the beam.

. Referring now more particularly to this connecting unit G which includes clevis 7, it may be observed from Figs. 3 and 4 that the said clevis is of transversely arched formation with a central cutaway portion and includes the opposite attaching flanges 8 which may be riveted or otherwise secured as at 9, to the vertical walls of the channel beam or spreader 5, while its upper portion is provided with the strap or loop portions 10 for receiving oppositely projecting mem: bers 11 of the T-bolt 12. As will be observed from the drawings the inner bearing faces 13 of the clevis straps 10 are of special formation. That is to say, said faces 13 are formed obliquely to the horizontal plane of the GXteI'lOfOf the members 11 of the T-bolt and are convergently related whereby the.

- only contacting with the head of the bolt at the point indicated. This particular type of bearing is especially advantageous, since it provides for supporting the load im osed upon the doors at a point where the -bolt is the strongest, namely where the head por tion joins the shank, and relieves the outer ends of the projections 11 of any leverage action at the point where they join with the shank. Heretofore, in cases where the I inner face 13 of the clevis Would contact with the members 11 uniformly throughout their length there has been a tendency of the T-bolts to break or give way at this point, thus causing the doors to drop and in some instances cause serious damage.

To further offset the possibility of the connecting unit being broken or ruptured, and thus accidentally release the doors; the T-bolt 12 is also of special formation. That is to say, the end of the shank opposite the head is formed with a suitable enlargement 16. whereby when the threads 17 are cut into the shank of the bolt the samewill not in any way be weakened by the thread cutting operatiorn' As previously pointed out, on

account of this T-bolt being subject to the strain of the load in the car special care must be exercised in the manufacturing of this bolt to prevent its failure under load.

- Accordingly. it is proposed to manufacture this bolt by a suitable process. .whereby the .T-bolt, and as will be observed from the 'iibers of the metal in the shank thereof will be disposed entirely lengthwisemf the shank, and to obviate the possibility of the thread cutting operation weakening the upper end of the bolt ends it is proposed to form the same as above pointed out. of the bolt in this manner not only materially increases the strength of the shank of the bolt, but at the same time the fibers of the metal from the shank are carried into the angularly disposed head portion thereof as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 7, whereby the strength of the head is preserved and made uniform with that of the shank. Thus, it will be apparent that owing to the special formation of the inner faces 13 of the clevis strap and also the special formation of the T-bolt that all of the members of the connecting unit which sustain the main load of the car are greatly reinforced and strengthened. The connecting unit C further includes a The formation detachable threaded socket member 18 for receiving the threaded end portion 17 of the drawings this socket member 18 is provided at its upper end with a bifurcated attaching portion consisting of the spaced arms 1Q pro vided with a suitable opening to receive a fastening pin or bolt 20, whereby when the lower perforated end of an operating link 21 is inserted between the arms 19, and the pin 20 is placed in position, the socket mem ber 18 will be connected with one of the links of the operating mechanism. Thismanner of connecting the socket member 18 to the operating link not only has the advantage of providing greater flexibility between the link of the operating mechanism and the connectin unit, but in case' of a rupture at this point, the replacement of a socket may be readily effected without the necessity of replacing the operating link.

In connection with the operating mechanism M which includes the links 21, it may of the said shaft 29 under the proper conditions.

When the doors 3 are closed it will be clear that the entire weight of the load I is sustamed by the lower ends of the links 21 and associated connectin device C including the clevis 7 and the T- olt 12. Obviously the greater strain of the load is'exerted on the connecting device C which includesthe parts 7, 12 and 18, and therefore inorder to prevent failure under load it is necessary to specially construct this unit as previously set forth.

Furthermore, it may also be noted-that the lower ends of the door links 21 are provided with simple screw threaded connections to the spreader bar or beam thereby simplifying and lightening the construction in this respect as compared with other more complicated and heavier devices.

1. A dumping car door construction, a pair of doors, a beam connecting said doors, operating mechanism for the latter including links, and a connecting unit carried by the intermediate portion of said' beam and including a clevis member fitted to the latter and having opposite strap portions provided with interior convergently related bearing surfaces, a T-shaped pivot bolt having its head portion located in the straps of the clevis and engaging only with the-inner ends of the bearing surfaces of said straps and also having a shank portion provided with a threaded end which is larger than the'body of the shank, and an internally threaded socket member adapted to engage with said threaded end of the shank of the bolt and having at its end opposite the socket portion a pair of spaced eyes for receiving only the end of one of the links of the door operating mechanism.

2. A dumping car door construction, a pair of doors, a beam connecting said doors, operating mechanism for said doors including links and a connecting unit carried by said beam and including a clevis member having opposite strap portions provided with interior obliquely disposed convergently related bearing surfaces, .1 T-shaped pivot bolt having its head portion located in said straps f the clevis' and engaging with the latter at a point close to the shank of. the bolt only, and said bolt having an enlarged end portion. provided with threads, and a socket member detachably fittingto said bolt shank and adapted to have a detachable engagement with one of the links of the operating mechanism.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE H. WILLIAMSON.

lVitnesses: v

J. T. HANLGN, E. L. GRorr. 

